Improved spring-mattress



UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

R. STILVELL, OF NEWT YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ALEXAN- DER D. FARRELL,

OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVED SPRING-MATTRESS.

To all whom yit may concern Be it known that I, R. STILWELL. of the city, county, andv State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in SpringMattresses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

in which- Figure l represents a side elevation of m'y invention when folded. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the saine when unfolded. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective View of my hinge in a larger scale than the previous gures.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to produce a spring-mattress with stuffing, which can be conveniently folded to reduce it to a convenient size for packing', and to make the breaks in the mattress so that the center of the bed retains its full strength, and the stuffing at that part of the mattress is not affected by the folding, and at the same time the headpiece can be raised to a convenient inclination.

A represents the frame of my mattress, which is made of wood or any other suitable material, and provided with bottom slats, a., to support the springs b. It is covered with the stufng B, which is retained by the tick C in the ordinary manner. 'Ihe frame A is cut in ve parts, c d e f g, which are connected by hinges h so that the mattress can be conveniently folded up to the position shown in Fig. 1, or unfolded to the position shown in Fig. 2. The short breaks d and fin the frame are requisite to make up for the thickness of the stuffing, and by arranging these breaks as shown in the drawings the center of the mattress preserves its full strength and the stuffing at that part remains soft and intact. It'

the break is made in the center of the frame, that part of the bed which ought to be strongest is rendered the weakest; and, furthermore, in folding the mattress the stuffing is pushed cach way from the break, and that portion which requires the most stuffing is deprived of a portion of that which it originally had. By making the breaks on the sides of the center, as done by me, the center of the bed preserves its .full strength, and when the mattress is folded the stuffing is pushed toward the center, where it is most needed. Besides this, I gain another advantage in being able to raise the head-piece c to an inclined position, as shown in Fig. 2, which cannot be done when the break is in the center. In that case the head-piece, extending to the center of the bed, has to be left flat, and it would be "ery inconvenient, indeed, if it should be brought in an inclined position. The hinges h, which I use to secure the various parts of my frame together, are provided with lipsz' to catch into kerfs cut into the side rails of the frame, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. By these means the hinges are prevented from turning round, and one screw in each part is suiiicient to retain the same firmly in place.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Constructing the mattress-frame in ive sections, of which when folded the central one forms the lower section, the adjacent sections d and f the sides, and the end sections, c and g, the top, so as to allow the ends to be hooked together and the mattress to assume a rectangular shape, for convenience in pack- 

